T for some language. Title taken from the song Running Up That Hill by Placebo.

I first noticed something weird was happening when I was standing by the crosswalk in front of Safeway. A boy stood next to me, all shaggy messy hair, and baggy clothes. He stared at me, bug eyed, with his mouth slightly open, saying nothing. Awkwardly, I shifted the heavy Safeway bag in my hand, and pushed the "walk" button a few more times in the hopes that maybe it just hadn't registered the first three times, so the fourth, fifth, or sixth press would do the trick. Unfortunately, it didn't, so I was stuck.

"What are you doing here?" the boy suddenly asked, still staring at me.

I frowned, and lifted my bag up a bit, trying to suggest to the stranger that I was just minding my own business, picking up basic toiletries and Top Ramen. Oh, my glamorous undergrad life.

He didn't remove his eyes from the locked on position to my face to even glance at my groceries. "Does Duncan know you're here?" he demanded, suddenly sounding apprehensive. He leaned in closer, and I caught a whiff of sour smelling smoke. Of course when I went for groceries I would be accosted by a crazy pot head.

Thankfully, the little white walking man suddenly lit up across from us. "Sorry man, I don't know who that is." I had just enough time to see his shocked expression before I started out across the street towards my dorm.

I couldn't help but glance back a few times on the way home, just to make sure he wasn't following me. Not because I was afraid of some scrawny teenage drop out, but just to be on the safe side...I mean, who knew what he was on. I was purely being cautious. Luckily, the journey was a short one, and I arrived back at my dorm quickly enough.

I opened the door, and tripped over something in the doorway. The something meowed, and I was immediately put on edge. "Kyle, why is there a cat in our dorm room?" I called, stepping over the offending object. It meowed again and pushed itself against my legs. I could feel myself softening a bit. But no, it had to go.

Kyle grinned at me from the computer desk. "He belongs to Callie," he said, as if this was normal. "Did you remember to get my Vitamin Water?"

Vitamin Water was one of the things he picked up from his almost girlfriend Callie, and now apparently this cat was another one. "Okay, why is Callie's cat in our dorm, when we aren't allowed any pets at all?" I asked, resisting the urge to pet the cat, who was still rubbing up against my legs and purring. Someone had to be the responsible one around here, and it wasn't going to be Kyle.

"She's going out of town for the weekend, and she didn't want Camel to be alone." he responded. Although I could only see his back from the computer he was so intently focused on, I knew what he looked like. Dark brown hair, cut short because he hated it in his eyes, which were the same color as his hair. He was pale, freckled, and loved to joke about his Irish heritage. We'd been roommates for two years now, and as annoying as he could be, it worked. Normally. Right now, it wasn't.

"His name is Camel?" I asked incredulously, momentarily distracted.

"Something like that. She should be back in a few minutes, ask her then."

"If she's still in town, why is her cat here?" I said.

"She wanted to make sure Camel was comfortable here without her." Kyle glanced up from his computer game, to where Camel was purring happily on my pillow. "I'd say he's pretty comfortable," he added.

I sighed. "He can't stay here. Do you know how much we'll have to pay if he destroys anything?" I demanded.

"Luke! He's been here for like, an hour, and he hasn't done anything but sleep!" Kyle protested. "And I'll pay for any mess he makes. Come on man, this is Callie we're talking about. She loves this cat more than anything. This might be my perfect and only opportunity to get her to say yes to a date! Besides, it'll only be until Monday," he said, obviously sensing I was softening. Bastard.

"Only until Monday?"

"Monday morning," he promised. "She'll be back for class, you know her."

"Fine," I caved. "But you owe me. And you have to take full responsibility for anything that happens."

"Yes!" Kyle pumped his fist in the air, and turned to the cat. "You're going to get me a date with your mommy, yes you are," he cooed.

Slightly disturbed, I tuned him out, and starting packing the groceries into our tiny fridge and cupboards. Absent-mindedly, I pulled out the dry noodles, toothpaste, various fruits and vegetables, and yes, Vitamin Waters for Kyle. Seeing this, he ceased his creepy monologue at Camel, and practically skipped over to the counter. "I've so been craving this stuff," he said. "All week!"

"When did you become a pregnant woman?" I asked, stacking the Ramens in the cupboard.

Pouting, Kyle picked up one of the apples, and then immediately dropped it again. "Eugh, what the hell man?" he asked.

"What?"

"That's disgusting. Look, it's totally rotten."

I picked it up, and was surprised to find it mushy enough that my fingers poked through the red skin to a gross black inside. "Gross! I swear, I didn't notice that in the store."

Kyle was investigating the rest of the produce. "Is this a joke?"

"Is what a joke?" I asked, tossing the apple in the trash, and washing my hands.

"Did you really waste our money on this?" he pointed at the pile of fruits and vegetables. I looked. They were all rotten. I stared, confused.

"I swear, those were fresh when I bought them." I protested.

"Yeah, they all rotted on the way over here." Kyle rolled his eyes. "I'm not going fifty-fifty on these, you can pay for all of them."

"I don't understand," I said slowly, sorting through the apples, bananas, and bags of lettuce. It was all disgusting. Brown, soggy, clearly rotten. How the hell had I not noticed this in the store? Why would Safeway even sell this shit?

"This is like...a health hazard man. You can clean it up."

Still unsure how it had even happened, I shook my head, and decided to chalk it up to not enough sleep, and Safeway being a corporate asshole. Midterms were coming up soon, and I was stressed. Clearly I was spending way too much time crouched over my anatomy textbook, and not enough time relaxing. I didn't have to look in the mirror the know that my dark blue eyes were surrounded in a wall of darker shadows. Not to mention my blond hair. It had gotten to past my ears, and well into my eyes. If I hadn't been so busy, I would've gotten it cut long ago. The last thing I wanted to end up looking like some surfer dude.

"This is gross," I complained, scooping up the food, and throwing it away.

"Tell me about it. I can smell it from over here. Is this your way of trying to get me to do the grocery shopping for once? Cause if so, you have serious passive aggressive issues. But next time, I'll go."

I laughed, shaking off the weirdness of the situation. It's true that in the last two years of being roommates, Kyle hadn't gone shopping once. "Sounds fair to me!" I told him, finally sinking into my bed, and giving into petting Camel. He had the loudest purr ever, but was somehow completely comforting. I sighed, and fell asleep.